Catch the frog!
by Bopbepop
Summary: L was amused by it. But Raito was not. Not when his teacher was dating his father. AU. Eventual LxLight.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or its characters. They belong to Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

Warning: AU. Shounen-ai. Eventual LxLight.

Summary: L was amused by it. But Raito was not. Not when his teacher was dating his father. AU. Eventual LxLight.

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Chapter 1.

Mr.L—as the kids referred to him, was an eccentric man who lived on Fifth Avenue across from the school. Unlike the other teachers, he refused housing on campus—a decision that brought much unwanted gossips among the school's staffs. It was rather strange for a person to choose a small, cramped apartment to a wider accommodation that was much closer to his work. His strange appearance, a daily arrangement of wild, unkempt hair, jean, and a long-sleeve white shirt, did little to lessen the rumors. But L did not mind them as much as he did his job.

It was not that L disliked kids. It was the fact that they thought they were adults when they were but kids. L could barely tolerate the presence of children, let alone working with them.

Nevertheless, he found himself as a teacher at some fancy academy for gifted children—the key word here being "children" and not "gifted." Children, after all, were but children, and despite their ability to compute huge calculations in their brains within split seconds, their maturity did not went beyond that of a regular child.

Yet they demanded to be treated like adults without giving the same treatment back. When L was younger, he thought that was cute. Now that he was wiser, he could not see those kids any more than spoiled little brats. It was by some horrific miracle that life had bestowed these children with the ability to absorb knowledge faster than the others—L refused to call this "intellect" because that word would suggest that the students were able to think critically.

Spoiled, for nature had given them a gift that they did not have to work for, they grew arrogant for being naturally advantageous over others. Thinking that just because it was easy to memorize f'(x) = lim h  0 [f(x+h)- f(x)] / h, they were just as mature—no, even more so—than adults. There was a fine difference between being smart and being mature, and L despised the way the school easily blurred out the distinction.

The children—no, adolescence—in L's class ranged from thirteen to fifteen years old, whose arrogance had been steadily built up each year to crystallized at their current age. There were ten of them. The leader of the group was a Japanese boy named Yagami Raito who had received too much praise for his own good. Yagami was famed for supporting radical solutions to social and economic problems discussed in his various classes. L had heard of them. He was not impressed. Yagami's thoughts, in L's opinion, were a series of poorly constructed beliefs based on the lack of understanding information.

L disliked dealing with this boy the most. Not only was he a child who demanded the excessive respect and attention, he was also too stubborn to admit his faults. He resisted the authority that bound him, as if he was above it. Since he was so "intelligent," he thought that only his way was correct, that others—namely adults—were too narrow-minded to see the light of his thoughts. In this belief, he had failed to recognize his own short coming.

Raito disliked "Mr. L" the most, from all of his teachers. It bothered him that Mr. L did not give out praises like the others. He also gave out long, difficult homework and expected it the next day. Raito was used to simple homework, like finding the derivative of an equation or completing equilibrium calculations for chemistry. However, Mr. L's homework was different. One did not memorize in his class—he had to think—he had to develop something beyond the materials learned in class. Perhaps the reason why Raito dislike "Mr. L" so much was the red X's on the homework that was handed back to him.

In his frustration, Yagami had pointed out that, in the classroom, L valued his own opinion too much, that he should accept the children's as well. L merely replied that he was paid to value and to teach his opinion, and if the children wanted to do the same to theirs, they could all go get an office and a PhD of their own.

"May be you should quit teaching," Misa laughed as L poured out his grievances over the phone.

Misa was L's half sister. Sharing the same father, it was not unexpected that they shared the same unnaturally pale shade of skin. However, being of different mothers, Misa's bright blue eyes, blond hair, and bubbly character served as a complete contrast with L's dark hair, liquid black eyes, and reserved personality.

"Nah, I don't hate it that much," L played with his nails. "Besides, what else could I do?"

"Hmmm. I don't know. You always seemed like you could be a pretty good detective to me," Misa teased, being half serious. It was a mystery that someone like L, who was so passionate of crimonology and justice, to choose teaching as a career. The blond had always imagine that her brother would be a world detective, sitting behind a computer and solving great crimes for all of his life. Nevertheless, she was happy to see that he was in a job with less stress and danger than the one she thought of.

"Right," L was sarcastic, restraining himself from adding a snide comment.

Misa, even though she was preoccupied with washing the dishes, could practically hear L's contemplating on saying something smart-ass. She rolled her eyes at her little brother's predictable manner.

"So, are you coming over my place for Christmas?" Misa asked.

Christmas was coming, and L had yet to formulate some sort of plan. Not wanting to admit to Misa that he had no other options beside what she had suggested, L opted for pointing out:

"You know I don't like your husband." L was still a firm believer that Matsuda was a poor choice on Misa's part. Not only was he clingy, he was also not very bright.

"Well, you better learn to like him because you're coming over whether you like it or not." Misa knew L well enough to know that he had no holiday plans. It saddened her to see that her little brother was still alone without someone by his side. Acting on the maternal instinct that L's mother had lack, Misa always fretted over L, often checking up on him and demanded that he spent the holidays with her. Occasionally, when her job allowed it, she would visit him.

"Besides," L could sense a smile dawning on Misa's face. "I have a surprise for you."

"You're going to hook me up with someone," L guessed, although it was more of a statement of fact than a prediction.

"You're too smart for your own good, you know that?" Misa pouted.

"Not really. You do the same thing every time I visit you."

"Admit it, you enjoyed every second of it."

"Yeah, I actually do," L confessed with warmth that surprised even him. It was one of those rare moments between them where L would open himself a bit more. Misa smiled at the thought.

"You'll like this guy, I promised. He's kind-hearted, honest, unselfish, and mature. He has a stable career, and he's smart too."

"What's wrong with him?" L got straight to the point. There was no way that there was not a catch in this seemingly ideal man. His previous experiences with men had taught him well.

"Well," Misa hesitated. "He's a bit…on the older side."

L raised a delicate eyebrow, "How old?"

"He is about ten years older than you."

"Oh," was all that L said. "That does not bother me that much." It was convenient, actually, that it was an older man. L preferred dating people who were equally or more mature than him.

"That's good," Misa sighed in relief. " I already told him about you—that you might want to meet up with him, and I was afraid that you would disapprove."

"Misa, you shouldn't make plans that early if you thought that I might be opposed to it." L reprimanded, although there was playfulness in his voice.

"Yeah yeah. Sure. Just don't forget to bring your Santa suit with you when you come over."

"Don't worry. That'll be the first thing that I'll pack." The last time that he forgot the Santa suit, he was forced to sleep on the couch for two days.

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Note:

This is my first Death Note fanfic. I'm not sure if it's good enough to continue. Please read and review.

Tell me what you think :]. Every review is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay, another chapter.

Thank you so much for those who reviewed!

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Yagami Raito had a long record of delinquency. Being one of the tallest and one of the strongest, he got involved in numerous fights and easily won them all. Being one of the smartest, he often used this advantage to annoy the teachers. So when his name was uttered on people's lips, there would be slight admiration for his intelligence yet strong contempt for his arrogance. He was used to getting what he wanted. But not in Mr. L's class.

Mr. L's classroom was a large lecture hall that was furnished with a podium, chairs with retractable table tops, and a chalk board. Although it was not as well-equipped with computers and such like the other classrooms, there were more windows here than anywhere else (a new feature that was recently added). Mr. L's room, also known as room 152 B, was stuck in between 152 and 153, both were science classes. However, Mr. L did not teach science. Nor did this room actually have a name before. Six years ago, this room used to be the conference room for the science department, but since a bigger and newer hall was built for it, the headmaster gave the old one to L, who was a new teacher at the time. That was how the "152 B" was attached last minute on to the door for convenience.

It was a unanimous decision among the children that on Tuesday night, they shall vandalize Mr. L's room as an angry response to the red X's on their homework. Geniuses did not get red X's—they get A's. And so, the children, upon discovering that Mr. L had indeed violate the natural order of human nature, had decided that it was their utmost duty to shatter the old man's immeasurable ego. This—Yagami had said—required the complete dedication of every single individual in the pursuit of justice.

Near, the student with an eerie resemblance to the teacher had made a skeptic, sarcastic remark before leaving to bed, ignoring the mob of angry children and their futile quest. His words left an ominous foreshadowing of their failure. Other than that, there was not much of a loss. The plan was carried out without complications.

It was early morning when Yagami Raito, sliding along the lightening shadow of the corridor, secretly snuck into the infamous Mr.L's classroom. It was his duty as leader of the gang to inspect the overall damage of their vandalism the night before. Although the hallway was still dark, sunlight was slowly creeping in behind him. The school would be awakening in exactly two hours. Raito had taken some precaution and wore only socks on his feet to minimize the noise level, if someone was to be walking down the corridor that moment.

Moving from memory, he slid his hands along the wall, feeling the cold, smooth stones beneath his fingers. _Yagami Raito get to go home early today upon his father's request. _There was a moment where his hands met air, and as he pushed them forward into the darkness, they were met with a cool, mahogany door. _His father sent him away to some expensive genius school in Britain, did you know?_ Within a few seconds of fumbling later, he found the bronze door knob, gave it a twist, and slipped inside. _No, I thought he was the one that wanted to go—to run away. _

The strong smell of chemicals greeted him as he moved stealthily through the aisles of the laboratory. The light from the half-opened blinds glinted on the glass bottles and silver water faucets, jumping from one to another to follow Raito in his steps. _His father was never home after his mom's death, I heard. Poor Raito. _This was the only way to access Mr. L's classroom before class hours, as the man always made sure that the room was properly locked. Nevertheless, his precaution was in vain, for the staffs that were in charge of the class and laboratory next door often forget to keep their doors locked—including the adjoining one to Mr. L's room. Their carelessness was Raito's gain. _Yes, poor Raito._

Despite his initial bravado, the brunette teen could not bring himself to open that adjoining door. There was a sense of dread that rushed through his body, a fear that something was coming to an end. A crash, perhaps, and he was going to feel the impact.

He had to stop thinking and continue this, for if he hesitated, the enormity of his actions might catch up to him.

_Poor Raito._

At the memory, he was overcome with a motivated spirit to yank on that door. Yet he could not open it, not now. Something was waiting—he knew. If he opened that door, there was no going back. While he could not reverse his previous wrongdoing, walking through that door would be a step deeper in quicksand. Raito was sinking, but he was not sure whether he wanted to disappear under or face what he was trying to run away from in the first place.

A loud creaking sound of wood startled Raito out of his thoughts. He could only stare at the figure in front of him in stupefied horror.

Leaning on his left foot, one hand in his pants pocket and the other on the doorknob was Mr. L in all of his glory.

And he did not look happy.

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There once was a boy who lived in a luxurious, beautiful house, yet he was not happy. He had a father and a sister, yet he felt lonely. He had all the expensive, beautiful toys that the world had to offer, yet he was still unsatisfied. One day, he left his home and wandered into the outside world, where his eyes landed upon the strangest creature that he had ever seen. It was a tiny little green frog with black spots, and as it hopped away, the boy followed it. They passed through trees, roads, and the forest. Finally, when the frog leaped on a lily pad in the middle of the lake, the little boy follow suit. Unfortunately, his body was not that of a frog, so when he tried to get on a lily pad, he sunk into the lake and drowns.

**********

Yagami Raito was sent to the office.

Some younger boys, whose guilt had kept them up late into the night, even when the alarm clock by their bedside had flashed 4:00 AM, had shuffled to one of the teachers and poured their hearts out. Within moments, the whole staff was informed of what had happened during the night, and some of the teachers were sent to inspect the damage done. One of them, of course, was Mr. L.

When L saw the classroom over strewed with chaos, paints, chemical, crude words and drawings, he felt beyond shock and disgust. It was as if they were taunting him—mocking him for believing that he had some sort of authority over them that he did not—an insult to his worthiness as a teacher.

A hot fury rushed over him, and it took all of his will not to lash out violently in front of the other staffs. The little brats had gone too far this time. Irrationally, the first suspect that popped into his mind was Yagami Raito, that Japanese boy who just needed more attention than he deserved.

To add more irritation, a group of children had flocked to the classroom and attached themselves onto the doorway, peering in as if this was a drama on TV.

L was about to turn around and deal with them, when a warm hand gently hold him back. Watari—as L had affectionately called him—walked pass him to send the children away, giving L a nod of reassurance.

"Thank you," L tried his best to show his appreciation of the elder man's kind gesture without letting his emotion seeped in.

"You know," Mr. Dumbey, who was standing next to L in his ridiculous orange pajamas, said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't take this personally, but…" He smiled, showing his two enormous, crooked front teeth, "You have to admit—it's pretty funny."

And that was all L needed to snap.

"_Funny?_" L hissed; his eyes narrowed so dangerously that Mr. Dumbey, in all of the crooked glory of his teeth, had to take a step back. "Do tell me, Mr. Dumbey, what is SO funny about this situation?"

Mr. Dumbey was nervous. The sudden outburst startled him. L could get pretty nasty when he was mad, "Well…I…" He stuttered.

"I'll tell you what ISN'T funny," L could not restrain his anger anymore. Everything that he despised about the school had been pounding on his brain and shoulders, one hammer after another, until this moment, when all six years of pressure all bunched in together and fell right on top of him. He was tired of it.

"It isn't _funny_," L snarled. "When our teaching—all of it—from elementary to high school had taught them NOTHING."

"NOTHING!" L swung his arms around the classroom, gesturing to the broken fragment of a classroom.

"We were SUPPOSED to prepare them for life, SHOW them the way. And look at this! LOOK at it," L walked toward Mr. Dumbey, who was slowly backing up. "Look at this and tell me what you think this is."

"Well….well," Mr. Dumbey stuttered. "I…I don't…."

"L," Watari called out to him gently, stopping the man in his track. "Please control yourself," He turned to Mr. Dumbey. "Mr. Dumbey, please take this situation seriously."

L nodded in shame, but Mr. Dumbey did nothing except straightening the imaginary wrinkles on his pajamas.

L sighed. The day was barely starting, and already there was a problem. The sight of the classroom made his stomach twisted yet again.

Disappointment. That all that it was. Despite his cynical view, a small part of L had secretly hoped that somehow, even through the frowns and groans that rose every time L handed back their work, the students would at least try to improve. But all of his work was futile. Sometimes L forgot how powerless he really was in influencing the nature of young boys; even if he had taught them all that he could, it was up to them to apply it.

**********

It was the talk of the whole school. Even Near, that strange kid who appeared apathetic to everything around him, had expressed his view upon the issue, which sounded very much like a murmured "Idiot" under his breath. There was talk that Raito's father was flying oversea to bring his son back. There was talk that all the boys who were involved were going to jail. There was also talk that the essay prompt # 57 in Literature class involved a dancing monkey parachuting from the moon.

This was a serious matter. Even though the essay prompt sounded very amusing, it seemed a bit too difficult to tackle. Also, Raito was going to be placed in some kind of disciplinary action.

Perhaps that was how this school effectively annoyed L without much effort. Raito's case was but a story to be enjoyed, to gossip about, but never as something to learn from. Even many of the staff expressed the same nonchalance as their students. Years of teaching and seeing too much from the world had worn them down, reducing their emotions to that of indifference. Even though L had no liking for children, he was old enough to recognize the students' short comings and young enough to want changes.

That was how he was to be in charge of Yagami's probation period, although he did not have any say in what the teen was to do to atone for his wrong doing. All L received from the headmaster was the instructions of what Yagami was to do, and how L was to monitor him. All the boy had to do was to complete a writing assignment everyday during his daily detention in L's class—at lunch, break, and after school. Winter break was around the corner; if Yagami showed no improvement in character (something that L got to decide), then the school will notify his parents for a conference before the student was to be released to parental discipline over the break.

Yagami, now that he was safe, started to shred his pitiful face and replaced it with his old arrogant face. When he sat in detention, he acted as if he was above everything else—even the law—taking an inappropriate pride in having committed a crime and gotten away with it. He did not even attempt the writing assignment. Yet the boy had, lately, restrained himself to a more tolerable level.

"You're not going to force me to write?" Yagami asked one day, referring to a condition of his punishment.

"No," L replied.

"Why not?"

"The purpose of this probation period is for you to self-reflect on what you have done," L's eyes flickered to the teen sitting in the back of his room. "And make personal changes to improve yourself."

At Yagami's scoff, L continued, "But I cannot force you to alter your mindset. If you want to become a better person, you have to take the initiative."

"You have to win against yourself before anyone could help you."

Yagami was silent. He was silent for a long time, just sitting there in the small chair, frozen, his eyes locked on to L's. Finally, the bell rung and he stood up, leaving the classroom while avoiding L's dark gaze.

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Yes, this chapter is a bit longer. More conflict is introduced. 8D

Please read and review :]

Next chapter: L waited for a sign that Yagami Raito was willing to change, but winterbreak was approaching fast.


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